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16 - Student Chapters of COPRI and ASBPA with Erin Rooney and Halaina Hahn
8 Plays7 months ago
In this episode of Going Coastal, Jon Miller and Deb Fernandes talk with Erin Rooney (COPRI) and Halaina Hahn (ASBPA) about the role of student chapters in shaping the next generation of coastal professionals. They share how these chapters connect students with industry networks, provide leadership opportunities, and bridge the gap between academic learning and practical experience. We cover examples of successful collaborations, tips for starting a chapter, upcoming conferences like ICCE and ASBPA’s National Coastal Conference, and advice for students navigating the field.
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Transcript
Introduction & Guest Introductions
00:00:10
Speaker
Welcome back to the Going Coastal podcast, the podcast for students and new professionals in the coastal field, ah hosted by myself, John Miller, Marissa Torres, and Deb Fernandez.
00:00:22
Speaker
I'm John. I'm here today, and so is Deb. Deb, you want to say hi? Hey, everyone. Today, ah we're actually going to put the spotlight on student chapters of different professional organizations that are helping shape the future of young students and coastal professionals. Today, we have ah Aaron Rooney representing COPRi.
00:00:42
Speaker
ah For those of you who don't know, COPRi is the Coasts, Oceans, Ports, and Rivers Institute of ASCE, the American Society of Civil Engineering. Aaron works at HDR as a Mid-Atlantic Coastal Lead Professional slash Associate in Virginia and is also a Virginia Tech alumni. I guess go Hokies.
00:01:02
Speaker
Our second guest today is Helena Han, who is in charge of the University Engagement Chapter of SMP, the ASBPA Students and New Professionals Chapter.
00:01:15
Speaker
ah Helena is currently a master's student at Florida Atlantic University, and I forgot the mascot for Florida Atlantic, I apologize. Go Owls! Go Owls. I should know that. My son is actually applying to Florida Atlantic and we visited it a few few months ago and I just like could picture the t-shirt, but I couldn't couldn't remember.
00:01:38
Speaker
Very cool. Well, welcome to the show. It's great to have both of you here. you know As we always do, I think we really want to get our listeners who we're speaking with. So we just simply ask a very broad question and say, who are you?
Aaron's Journey with COPRi
00:01:52
Speaker
So I guess why don't we start with Aaron? Who are you? Yeah, thanks for the intro. um Yes, I'm Erin Rooney. ah Currently, I'm the coastal rep on the COPRI governing board, um which means I'll be COPRI president in the 2026-2027 fiscal year.
00:02:08
Speaker
um But here, we're here to talk about student chapters, so really excited about that. um My journey in COPRI actually started in grad school. um I did undergrad at Virginia Tech, but I did grad school at Texas A&M, and m and um actually was the founding president of the first copre student chapter, uh, back in 2010, um, working with Dr. Jennifer Irish as our advisor there.
00:02:29
Speaker
So, um, really, you know, since that time, since 2010, about the last 15 years, um, journey with copre has, uh, kind of taken a lot of, um, uh, A lot of exciting turns, you know, at student chapter level, professional chapter level, and now at the governing board. So our student chapters are, you know amazing. They're doing amazing things. And it's a great stepping stone into the professional realm. um Great for networking, great for understanding our industry.
00:02:54
Speaker
So we we really love our student chapters. i'm excited to talk about it. So did did you and Jen, was that like ah like a trade that got made? You went from Virginia Tech to Texas A&M and she went the other direction? It's funny. Yeah, my ah my last semester at A&M was her last semester at A&M. And then she went to Virginia Tech where where I had just come from. Who won that trade? Who who got the better end of that deal? you Texas A&M or Virginia Tech?
00:03:17
Speaker
You know, I mean, I'm i'm a hokey first, I guess I could say. So, you know, I think Virginia Tech's very lucky to have Jen. So I'm excited about that. Very cool. Very cool.
Helena's Experience with ASBPA
00:03:27
Speaker
All right. um So Helena, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself? Yeah, I'm a master's student at Fort Atlantic. Like you said, I'm under Dr. Tiffany Roberts Briggs, and I'm actually new to ASBPA, one of the newest members on the board of directors.
00:03:45
Speaker
And I was given the opportunity to be the university engagement chair. And I really love the position where I get to spread the word about ASPPA and connect these young students and even like myself into a larger network of professionals and other students who may need some community.
00:04:09
Speaker
Awesome. And ah where are you from, actually?
Importance of Student Chapters
00:04:12
Speaker
I'm from Orlando, but I've been at Boca in ah Florida Atlantic from undergrad. So when I was down there, i've I've heard that there's different ways to pronounce the second part of Boca.
00:04:25
Speaker
So you if you don't want to mess it up, you just say Boca. But is it is it Boca boker Raton, Boca Raton? How do you say the second part? I say Boca Raton, but I've heard both ways. I like Boca Raton, but yeah. sounds Sounds a little more, I don't know, elevated.
00:04:43
Speaker
it does. It does. Very interesting. um So, I mean, this is really cool. um You know, when we set up the episode, you know, I know Aaron's very involved with Coperi. And I know, you know, one of the things that we're trying to do is definitely get more student engagement. And Coperi has been very, very good with that. And I obviously also know that ASPPA has the student and new professionals chapter, which is really cool.
00:05:07
Speaker
But i didn't I don't know that i'm I necessarily recognized how, um I guess, engaged you guys were at the, you know, starting one of the first student chapters at Texas or the the first student chapter at Texas A&M. That's kind of ah speaks to a level of commitment, certainly, um ah you know, with the organization. And and the same thing for you, Helena, to be so um involved so early on.
00:05:30
Speaker
um with ASBPA. I think that's that's really cool. um So, I mean, I guess, Aaron, why don't we'll go back to you and and just kind of ask. So you you started the student chapter or at Texas A&M.
00:05:44
Speaker
um Can you just kind of talk about you know maybe why you thought that was an important thing to do and kind of how you went about it? and Because you know One of the things we often get is, you know how how do I want to start a student chapter. like how How would I go about
Founding COPRi Chapter at Texas A&M
00:05:58
Speaker
that? so Can you just kind of talk a little bit about the experience at Texas A&M?
00:06:02
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. so um you know i mean to To take a step back, so you know the idea of the student chapter really came from ah Dr. Irish directly. You know, she was involved with COPRY at the national level and they wanted to start some student chapters.
00:06:14
Speaker
um So she got with us and, you know, we we went through the effort to do that. And, um you know, it was really great. COPRY really helped us. The national level of COPRY helped us.
00:06:26
Speaker
The university was very open to it. You know, a lot of it is just some basic paperwork, really, to to start a student chapter. It's really not as difficult as you might imagine. um And, you know, COPRY and the universities are usually there to help you kind of navigate that.
00:06:41
Speaker
But after that, it's really just kind of, um you know, forming the group, right? Getting your fellow student members, um coming with us some fun ideas. You know, the really exciting things about student chapters is that the students get to figure out what they want to do, right? Like if they want to speak to more professionals, it's a great avenue to invite those folks to campus or even virtually if you're in a location that's kind of difficult to, um you know, to access.
00:07:05
Speaker
um You know, it's great to interact with the um national level of your organization. So, um you know, we at CoPRI, now we have many CoPRI chapters, student chapters, um you know, so we have ah regular calls with the student chapter presidents and they get to share ideas.
00:07:21
Speaker
They get to talk with COPRI governing board. You know, we get to hear their ideas, you know, for COPRI as a whole. So it's a really great way to information share across, um you know, different oh levels of experience, right?
00:07:35
Speaker
um You know, and it's a great way to just... get more ah networking time with your fellow students as well, right? I mean, I think as many of us in the field know, our network now is many of the folks we went to grad school with, right?
00:07:48
Speaker
So, um you know, and that networking really starts very early. So it's it's just a really great way to um learn all those things, network, and then also, you know, learn leadership skills, right? The things you don't get in the classroom. So, you know, how to organize a group, how to, um you know, talk with folks in in that variety
ASBPA Activities at Florida Atlantic University
00:08:05
Speaker
of things. So it's really, really a great opportunity. Does it does that answer your question?
00:08:10
Speaker
Not sure if it went off topic there. Yeah, no, like I say, we this we try to keep this as conversational as possible. So I don't think there is and off topic. some of the Some of the more obscure things that we've talked about on this show, it's Kind of crazy.
00:08:25
Speaker
Helena, let's go back to you and kind of talk about yeah your experiences, kind of, ah you know, how you got involved, I guess, with ASBPA to begin with, and then kind of, you know, how your pathway, I guess, towards becoming more involved at the at the student and professional chapter.
00:08:41
Speaker
So last year, I actually attended last year's National Coastal Conference where we were presenting posters and I saw the wonderful S&P table that they had set up and they looked like a welcoming, friendly group. So I just went over and I was like, what's this all about? um And they were such a group great group of people that I decided I wanted to be more involved.
00:09:07
Speaker
um Actually, at Florida Atlantic, we were in the process of starting a chapter already, but we really didn't have much organization yet. So I thought this was the perfect way to get that going, both for myself and then for Florida Atlantic. So after that I kind of organized, we kind of organized our university chapter at Florida Atlantic, which I forgot to mention that I'm the president of, but...
00:09:36
Speaker
um And it was great. i We just got to know a lot more about how SMP can help Florida Atlantic and our grad students in our lab.
00:09:48
Speaker
And we've really actually connected with a lot of great people in Boca and ourselves um getting to know each other's like paths that we wanted to take and just understand everyone's career paths and how that how we could support each
Role of Conferences in Engagement
00:10:03
Speaker
other.
00:10:03
Speaker
That's really cool. And um what kind of events have you guys had recently at Florida Atlantic? Yeah, so we actually were gifted some supplies for beach cleanups by 4Ocean, which started at Florida Atlantic University by two alumni.
00:10:22
Speaker
So we got a bunch of like cleanup gloves, bags, and then of course their coveted bracelets, which really brought in attention for our beach cleanup and our events.
00:10:33
Speaker
And then we have visited the University of Miami to visit their wave flume, which was super cool. um That, I guess, set up can get up to category five conditions.
00:10:49
Speaker
So that was super cool to see and really good to connect with a different university that is our neighbor, basically. Very cool. And did you get to simulate category five hurricane? No, they were like, it literally shakes the whole building. We're not going to do that today. But we got to see, I think they said up to category three, which was still very impressive and yeah, very dramatic.
00:11:19
Speaker
Awesome. That's really cool. And Erin, I wanted to ask you something. Do you see a big difference between the chapters in terms of what they're more focused in?
00:11:30
Speaker
Yeah, that's a great question. So, um you know, it's really interesting, especially i think as many folks know in coastal, every coastline in the U.S. or elsewhere is is so unique, right? So, um you know, for example, we have our Louisiana State University chapter, LSU.
00:11:46
Speaker
um And the Louisiana coastline is is such a unique location, right, where it's really more this like coastal river, marsh whole interface, you know, it's not really just that that nice clean beach.
00:11:57
Speaker
So you definitely see, um you know, different um field trips and lectures and, um you know, guest professionals, um you know, with a different spin than you might see at some of our um more traditional beach focused coastal locations.
00:12:13
Speaker
um And also, you You know, COPRI is the Coast, Oceans, Ports, and Rivers Institute. So we are more than just coast. So, um you know, you do see a lot of that as well, right? So we have some folks with like, um you know, ah dredging navigation, which is the nice thing about having those four topics together is you know, they do blend together a lot, right? You have dredging navigation, um you have marine facilities that also have like wave influences.
00:12:39
Speaker
So we do have a little bit more of ah a blend of um topics as well that maybe gets away from just the pure coastal um things. So it's really interesting to see the the geographic diversity. And we also do have a student chapter in ah Rio de Janeiro as well.
00:12:53
Speaker
So ah that is our only um chapter outside of the US, but um you know they do a lot of really different and interesting things that are very local to to that location as well. And um we really love our student chapters. They're they're all very active and um very um engaged in their local community.
00:13:11
Speaker
Yeah, I think that one of the things that as a as an advisor to at least at one point, the ASBPA student chapter at Stevens and the COPRI chapter at Stevens, um I think one of the things that's, you know, very cool is kind of mixing in of these different like types of events. Right. So.
00:13:33
Speaker
you know, as a student, you know, nobody wants to just sit in more lectures. Right. So it can't I feel like, you know, our chapter has done a good job of kind of mixing in some of these more fun, more social, um more get out into the environment, do some beach cleanups and those types of things with some of the professional development stuff so that we've we've had lectures and we have career workshop for career focused workshops.
00:13:59
Speaker
um And I think for us, that's been kind of a pretty good way to, you
Mixing Social and Professional Events
00:14:05
Speaker
know, benefit the students, but also kind of draw in more students. So I think I think you hit it on the head, like not having like i that, the the trip to you Miami's category five wave maker flume was just sounds awesome. I want to like come and I'm annoyed at myself when I was down in Miami. I didn't visit. I should have visited next time, maybe.
00:14:26
Speaker
Next time you're down, just reach out to me and we can go see it. Sounds great. Sounds great. um One thing I you know want to kind of bring it back to um that you that you I think both had kind of mentioned is um conferences and the importance of conferences. And you know speaking from experience, my first experience Sorry, Kopri, but my first experience was actually at an ASBPA conference in, believe it was in, oh where was it
00:14:59
Speaker
It was in the Pacific Northwest somewhere, maybe Seattle, maybe Portland, I don't remember. um But what I can remember about that conference is sort of the you know sense of intimidation and like ASBPA people are some of the most relaxed people in the world, but still nonetheless, as a graduate student feeling,
00:15:19
Speaker
you know, a little bit out of place and you see all these, you know, names of people that you've read in textbooks and, you know, here you are at a conference with them and you're trying to find your footing and not really knowing what to do and how to do it and who to talk to and kind of, you know, it's a lot. So back when I was doing this, there was no student in professional chapter or even or even small even group within the organization, really. So you kind of had to like make it yourself.
00:15:48
Speaker
um So I'm really glad to, you know, see the student in new professional chapters kind of take off and kind of help assist in that. So um I don't know, Helena, can you just maybe talk a little bit about, ah expand a little bit about more on your experience at the conference and kind of meeting the people that you did?
00:16:06
Speaker
Yeah, the first time i went, it was very nerve wracking. Yeah. thankfully my whole lab went with me. So it was really great to have at least my lab mates there with me. But then, like I said, I saw that S and P table that they had set up with young people like me, where i felt a little bit more comfortable to go up to them and like hang out and talk with them.
00:16:30
Speaker
And obviously they looped me in with some of the people that they were talking to or that they know. Um, and they were just a welcoming group. It was very helpful. And, um, made me feel a little bit better about where I am. And there's like ah similar people or similar students and new professionals there with me. And, and you know,
00:16:52
Speaker
i think I think with Kopri, it's pretty much the same thing. I think with whether it's an ICC event or ah ports event or whatever the conference is. And I think you know i think if you were to if you were to rank like professions in terms of like intimidating likeness, I feel like engineers would actually probably be pretty high on their profession. I don't know why. I think we're all nice
COPRi vs ASBPA Differences
00:17:18
Speaker
people. But for some reason, people are scared of engineers. I don't know.
00:17:22
Speaker
um So I think having that student and new professionals presence at at some of those conferences is is great as well. So I don't know, Erin, have you had any experiences particularly at conferences maybe?
00:17:35
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. So I will say though, I think coastal engineers are a different breed of engineers than typical, which is kind of and nice, especially when you see folks ah showing up in Hawaiian shirts or something. It's a little bit less intimidating at some of these things.
00:17:48
Speaker
but um But yeah, John, i'm so I'm kind of more on your timeline. When I was a young professional going to these events, there weren't really anything, you know, ah any special programming for for students, a young professionals at the time. But right now, you know, I think um in general, everyone really sees that need. So like you did mention, um you know, in May, we're going to have the International Conference on Coastal Engineering, ICCE.
00:18:10
Speaker
That'll be in Galveston, Texas. um And that's really exciting times for coastal engineers in the U.S. This is a conference that's every two years. And It travels the world. um So it's really only in the U.S. every, you know, roughly 8 to 12 years, um not on a specific timeline.
00:18:24
Speaker
But um we do have a student and young professional program committee on the planning committee. And we are planning a lot of things that are specifically for um folks of that, of that age range. And I'm not the only one on that committee. There are some actual young professionals. and not but I don't think I fit that ah description anymore, but, um but yeah, so it is exciting.
00:18:45
Speaker
um You know, we are going to have a, a young professional, um, mixer after hours things specifically um you know we're also gonna um be trying to have um before the event um you know a lot of information on the website of really helping folks um understand how to prepare you know and um you know things to be considering before going to the conference to make sure that they um you know, feel as confident as as confidence they can before they get there, um you know, before we actually get to the the conference itself, where we'll have a lot of, um you know, great things for students and young professionals too. So that's still kind of in the mix, but we are um excited about that.
00:19:27
Speaker
Yeah, I was going to say, similar to Kopri at ASBPA, we had, what was it, beanbag toss or something like that, ah cornhole. Yeah. We had a cornhole ah competition and I think that's what really kind of settled some nerves for a lot of students where you see these professionals that you've read papers of, you're researching all this and they're just playing cornhole.
00:19:53
Speaker
And that was set up by S&P and I think that really helped for students and new professionals to get involved and connect with some of those um professionals.
00:20:06
Speaker
So you got to be careful with the competitions, though. So my students won the first cornhole competition. forget where it was, but wherever it was, I think Rhode Island, maybe. I don't know. But they won the first one. And then last year they did poorly. So when they came back, I told them like I was going to take away some of their privileges. like you know couldn't you gotta to You got to represent the Stevens chapter a little better than that.
00:20:28
Speaker
That's why people are scared of engineers. I think they'll have um some redemption at our next one. I think we're trying to set up a be beach volleyball competition. so Yeah, well, well I got to get them out. And we have a beach volleyball court here at Stevens. So i'm going to have them out there training to make sure. At the end of the day, as long as the engineers beat the geologists and the scientists and the policy folks, that's all that really matters. so Fair enough.
00:20:55
Speaker
kit cancel Cancel those research meetings. Just get to practice. Whoa, whoa, ah whoa, Whoa. No, no, no. I'm a geologist at core.
Collaboration Benefits
00:21:04
Speaker
Can't say that. Yeah.
00:21:07
Speaker
No, John. Some good natured competition is always is always fun. I think we it's we try to have fun between the the different groups working in coastal, which actually is something ah kind of important to bring up. Yeah.
00:21:21
Speaker
So there is a difference between COPRI and ASBPA. And COPRI is very much focused on engineering and coastal engineers, ocean engineers, port engineers, but engineers.
00:21:32
Speaker
um So I don't know, maybe, Erin, can you talk a little bit about kind of, you know, that the importance of that distinction and kind of what it means and and whatnot? Yeah, absolutely. So like you like you mentioned, you know, every ah professional organization has a different, um you know, leaning or twist or whatever, and they're all incredibly important.
00:21:50
Speaker
um COPRI, we are an institute under ASCE. ASCE has nine institutes, which focus on different um technical aspects. So, you know, being under ASCE, we really are focused in that civil engineering realm, right, with the coastal specific, um you know, which means, you know, we're not necessarily um the policy experts or the, um you know, the local government official experts, you know, um but we do work with other organizations like ASPPA or others to um to get that realm. So, um you know, ASE does a lot of great stuff with like standards and white papers and that kind of thing, which does overlap with what some of ASPPA's work as well.
00:22:30
Speaker
So um we really do do sit into that that technical engineering realm. um And we definitely recognize the importance of working with other organizations, um you know, but we're also not looking to ah to duplicate their efforts, you know, outside of our area of expertise as well.
00:22:45
Speaker
Yeah. And then I don't know if, you know, either Helena or ah Deb, if you want to talk a little bit maybe about just kind of the different types of people that are involved in ASBPA. I can talk a little bit about it too, but don't know if you guys, one of you want to jump in.
00:22:59
Speaker
I would just say from the student chapter side, we have, like um Aaron said, our different chapters kind of are focused on different aspects of coastal, the coastal realm.
00:23:11
Speaker
So some we have engineering chapters and focus on that. And mine specifically is like beach morphology, geology, and stuff like that. um So we do have different realms. And I think that's what's great with our monthly meetings and get togethers that we can appreciate the full scale of that.
00:23:33
Speaker
Yeah,
Value of Conferences & Interdisciplinary Collaboration
00:23:34
Speaker
and I would add that um just like COPRI, ASBPA has other chapters, not just the student one. And then you have, for example, the Government's Affairs Committee. So this one is more based on policy.
00:23:46
Speaker
And then you have another one, which is called Science and Technology Committee, S&T Committee. And those provide white papers are and more on the technical side. And then you have regional chapters.
00:23:59
Speaker
Those are more focused basically on where they're based. So more like a Louisiana coastline or Californian coastline, etc. So yeah, that's the diversity of ASBPA. Yeah. and And I will add, Copri also does have professional chapters um in different locations as well.
00:24:13
Speaker
And um it's really great when a professional chapter location lines up with a student chapter location, because there can be a lot of interaction between those two groups. Yeah, no, I was just going to say from, ah again, a faculty um faculty advisor standpoint, the the idea, the the fact that we have several, well, two COPRI chapters, very local to Stevens, is a of a great benefit to our student program because, you know, there are many opportunities to interact. There's lots of events happening all the time. And so, you know,
00:24:45
Speaker
I've always found the the professional chapters to be very accommodating you know in terms of working with the student chapter. i think there's a, you know I mean, I was just i was also gonna say when we were talking about conferences, professionals the fact that you know professionals academics, et cetera, like we love talking to students.
00:25:04
Speaker
Like it just, you know, i know there's that perhaps like an intimidation thing with a student not really wanting, you know, like nervous to go talk to the the important professional or the important, you know, academic. But realistically speaking, I think, and I think I can speak for most of us, like we would rather talk to you than some of the other professionals and academics. Sometimes it's a bit much and sometimes we would much rather have that conversation with a ah young student or or new professional. And I think the, again, the interaction between the professional chapters and the student chapters is is really good actually in both organizations and both COBRE as well as ASBPA. I think it's kind of interesting and it just kind of occurred to me as having that conversation that
00:25:50
Speaker
it seems to me, and i I mean the, the ASBPA chapters, as I say this, I'm kind of pulling back on it, but they seem to be more, um, geographically, um, larger geographic areas.
00:26:07
Speaker
and Whereas Coperi tends to be like, as an example in Northern New Jersey, we have two but basically divided by the river, the New York section, basically the Met section and, and Northern New Jersey section.
00:26:19
Speaker
Um, Whereas for ASBPA, like the Northeast chapter of ASBPA, which covers everything from New Jersey, basically all the way up to Maine is our our ASBPA chapter. So um there's a little bit of a difference there.
00:26:35
Speaker
Yeah. and there is a reason for that. So um as an institute of ASCE, um even at the local level, um an institute chapter has to be um hosted by an ASCE section or branch.
00:26:47
Speaker
So we do have to kind of follow the ASE section or branch um geographic you know areas, which um does vary. you know For example, our Louisiana chapter is is the entire state of Louisiana because it's under the Louisiana section.
00:27:00
Speaker
But like you mentioned, in New Jersey, you know we have two that are very close to each other, just kind of how the ASE boundaries are formed. But we do, each each professional chapter of COPRES does have its own board and whatnot, but um it is underneath ASE. And think that has a lot to do with ah you know taxes things like that. So the things, the things, the things you learn. not know that.
00:27:20
Speaker
Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. very exactly Yeah. I was just wondering earlier, exactly what we're talking about right now, this collaboration between the professional chapter and in the student chapter, how does this kind collaboration work?
Ideas for Student-Professional Collaboration
00:27:32
Speaker
Do you have any example of what has been done before both for COBRE and ASBPA?
00:27:38
Speaker
Yeah, I will say, um, you know, so, um, before I moved to to Northern Virginia, i was, um, on the Louisiana chapter board of COBRE for about 10 years. Um, actually was the the founding young professional ah chair of of that chapter when we started that um back in 2012.
00:27:53
Speaker
um And so, you know, as as kind of being, um as the Louisiana chapter evolved, the professional chapter, we really found great ways to work with the um the student chapter at LSU.
00:28:06
Speaker
um You know, so now we have a scholarship program. So each year the Louisiana chapter, gives a scholarship to an undergrad and a graduate student.
00:28:17
Speaker
um They don't necessarily have to be COPRI student chapter members, but typically they are. um You know, the, ah for example, the LSU ah chapter president is invited to the Louisiana professional chapter board meetings to keep up to date and everything.
00:28:32
Speaker
um And then, you know, our Louisiana chapter fall seminar We um actually, it's a full day seminar. We actually host it on the LSU campus um for a variety of reasons, but one advantage is that LSU students can very easily access it in between classes, you know, trying to get over there where they can.
00:28:49
Speaker
um And then not always, but a lot of times at that, we actually um have a ah LSU student be one of the speakers, you know, at that um event as well. So, you know, there's a lot of great ways to interact. I have heard some other professional student chapters coordinate on like um mock interviews, you know, resume things, um field trips, you know, coordinating with some professional chapters, you know, might have someone working on a really cool project and, you know, they kind of have an in to um to to have a field trip there.
00:29:18
Speaker
So, you know, sometimes just having that organization name behind you, COPR or ASPPA, really helps kind of grease the wheels on you know, getting some connections made, you know, you're not just a a random person asking, you're you're a representative of this organization. So it kind of helps, um you know, some of that coordination.
00:29:35
Speaker
i was going to say, i just hearing you talk about your collaboration with professional chapters and student chapters, it gives me a lot of ideas for our university chapters and We're trying to expand that collaboration between our regional chapters and the students.
00:29:51
Speaker
And I think you just gave me a bunch of really great ideas that I can bring back. So
Joint Sessions at Conferences
00:29:56
Speaker
thank you. Yeah, absolutely. You know, and and on that note, you know, I mean, one of the things um as COPRI we are doing is we have these regular calls with all the student chapters.
00:30:04
Speaker
so that they can share ideas, you know, because some chapters are doing incredible things that, you know, we didn't even think about. So um it's really exciting to see what everybody's different ideas are. And there's there's so many great opportunities out there.
00:30:16
Speaker
And I think one of the things that I think you'll find, and this is great for you, Helena, is that a lot of the really cool things that you can do, it starts with the students, and right? And somebody taking the initiative and kind of either starting a student chapter or, you know, starting a specific event. Like, you know, speaking from our student groups, you know, I can think about, you know, ah my first graduate student, Alicia Mahan, who started our ASBPA student chapter, and it was really driven by, you know,
00:30:46
Speaker
her desire to be more involved with ASBPA. And she had come to a couple of conferences and noticed some of these issues. And Stevens was the first student chapter of ASBPA. And it took that special person with that initiative, that spark, that desire to put in the effort to do it.
00:31:02
Speaker
And again, it wasn't terribly difficult, but it just, you know, somebody has to take the reins there. And, you know, with our COPRIE chapter, we had had it for a number of years, but Matt Janssen, who's now ah a professor here at Stevens,
00:31:15
Speaker
was really the one who um dug in and really wanted to make the connection with the professional chapters and started our mark mock interview and resume review workshop. And, you know, was really passionate about it and continued that passion and kind of instilled that passion into those that followed behind him.
00:31:33
Speaker
So it's really kind of, it's and it's a responsibility, right, to be the president of a ah ah a student chapter of any organization. And, you know, you can you can make it or break it. So no pressure, Helena.
00:31:47
Speaker
Oh, thanks. No, but we do have some collaborations coming up for ASBPA. Yeah, because I'm also a member of the student's chapter. And I think at the conference that's coming up, the National Coastal Conference.
00:32:01
Speaker
We are going to have a panel with students a new professional and in California chapter of ASBPA. So this is going to be one of our first, like I think, that I can think of big collaboration between the student chapter and one of the regional chapters. So we're excited to see how that's going to go.
00:32:21
Speaker
Speaking of collaborations, um so Kopri actually is ah prison or presenting a session ah at the ASBPA conference as well.
00:32:34
Speaker
I think it's, I don't know if it's the first time we've ever kind of coordinated something like that, or it's first first time in a long time, I could say. Aaron, do you want to like talk a little bit about that, or I can, or...
00:32:46
Speaker
Yeah, maybe I can start and you can fill in you you being one of the speakers. So, yeah you know, over the past year, um the coastal arm of Copri, we've really um taken a step back and really trying to figure out what is the coastal engineering community need from Copri?
00:32:59
Speaker
You know, we want to be useful, right? And we want to be... um you know, helpful for our members, you know, what why exist if we, if we, if we're not needed, right? So, um which to be clear, we were needed before. We're just trying to make sure we we reassess.
00:33:13
Speaker
And, you know, and so as part of that, we've really identified a few things in the coastal engineering profession that we want to maybe explore more or, you know, really need to be addressed. And so we did end up forming a um ah dedicated session that we submitted for ASBPA that was accepted Um, and so we're really excited to maybe have those conversations, um, you know, cause I think ah some of the things that, you know, COPRI is experiencing from the coastal engineering side, you know, ASPPA is also experiencing, right.
00:33:40
Speaker
from the coastal engineering side, um looking at you know our our workforce development, our coastal engineering programs. um you know and And for folks that are not aware, if you want to be a licensed professional engineer, you need to have an ABED accredited engineering degree.
00:33:55
Speaker
um So you know that is a little bit of ah a nuance um from the legal side that we do really need to pay attention to when we're getting our our coastal engineering graduates. um you know Looking at our our standards, you know like what what's out there for coastal engineers um You know, that's a topic that Copri is trying to understand. I'm sure ASPPA is in a very similar position from that. You know, when we're designing things,
00:34:16
Speaker
a project that we're going sign and seal, you know, we need to make sure we we understand what's ah what's what's the what's the science out there, what's the engineering, you know, what's, um you know, we have certain legal requirements, we need to really make sure we're understanding um public health and safety, you know, a lot of those things. So what's the status of standards now, and some other aspects as well. So we're really excited to to have these conversations at ASVPA.
00:34:39
Speaker
I think we will have a lot of um good conversation on that. And, you know, that'll inform the future of COPRY and, you know, maybe it'll inform the future of ASPPA. um We're really just trying to to work within the the broader coastal engineering community as a whole.
00:34:52
Speaker
and john i don't know if you have anything to add on that. Yeah, i think it's I think it's a great opportunity. I think we've had conversations offline at COPRI events about you know trying to collaborate with partnering or partnering with organizations like ASBPA because recognizing that we have our strengths, COPRI has its strengths. I say we, I'm both. So ASBPA and COPRI, right? Each organization has its strengths and they can be very complimentary towards one another. And when we're working towards the same sort of goals and objectives, I think you know, many voices, you know, are better than a single voice, right? And as long as we're coordinated and consistent. And so part of that is kind of learning about, you know, the things that are, is important to ASBPA and the things that are important to COPRI, you know, and kind of find out how we can best work together, whether it's, you know you know, trying to yeah inspire students and new professionals to get into the field, whether it's, you know, at the federal level, whether it's, you know, looking for
Significance of Student Conferences
00:35:47
Speaker
funding for research or funding for actual project construction,
00:35:51
Speaker
um You know, we all kind of have a similar say and there's a lot of crossover. There's a lot of board members from ASBPA that are also board members, you know, or are members of CoPRI um and are very involved. So take advantage of that. So I got I was I was looking forward to a nice relaxing ASBPA, nice trip to California. and And I got I got roped into doing a presentation.
00:36:14
Speaker
Oh, yeah. well Well, you know, the ironic thing is, is I can't even go to the conference. I just made you all just ah just do all the work. Yeah, y'all do all the work. I'll just submit the abstract. No big deal.
00:36:25
Speaker
Yeah. Well, you know, I guess you got to I guess you got to earn your keep, so to speak. I have to get a colleague to, you know, video conference me and to watch. But yeah, so it's it's good. It's great to see. um COPRI and ASBPA kind of working together at this conference. um You know, again, there'll be an opportunity, and don't not to reciprocate, but to like, you on the flip side, ICCE is in Galveston, ah which is actually where ASBPA held its conference last year. So there's kind of a little bit of an overlap there, but um I'm sure there'll be a lot of ASBPA members that also attend ICCE.
00:37:02
Speaker
um So, yeah you know, I think, I guess one thing that's kind of worth little talking about a little bit, um you know, i see so the opportunity to attend an ICC, ah International Conference on Coastal Engineering, is ah something that doesn't, well, it comes around every two years, but the opportunity to tend ah to attend one that's local and fairly cheap to get to only comes around once every six or so years because it rotates between Asia, Europe, and
00:37:33
Speaker
and the U S typically, or North America, South America. So um it's a really awesome opportunity to have that event in Galveston.
00:37:44
Speaker
I don't know, Aaron, you want to say anything specific about ICCE or ICC is a COPRI conference. COPRI is, um you know, helping with the organization of that. And we do have a committee that does review abstracts every year, even when it's outside the U.S. We're very excited to be having ICC in Galveston, Texas this year in the U.S. You know, it does present a great opportunity.
00:38:07
Speaker
um It is a little bit cheaper to get to as opposed to maybe an international location. So we are hoping to, um you know, have a lot of U.S.-based coastal engineers,
00:38:17
Speaker
that maybe typically can't get to those international locations to to join us. um But, you know, like I mentioned earlier, you know, we do have a lot of ah student and young professional planning going on.
00:38:29
Speaker
um Some of that's still in the works. I don't have any specifics for you right now. um But, you know, we are hoping to have a very big ah presence there. There will be a reduced fee for for students and young professionals and and and some young professional networking events and, um you know, maybe some some dedicated space at the larger ne networking events for to um help folks that are a little bit intimidated by that.
00:38:50
Speaker
So we are excited to to have that in the US this year. Yeah, I think it's it's always, you know, as a certainly as a ah faculty member, I think the opportunity and experience that students get from attending conferences is ah really important part of their development and training. um You know, ive i've I've had students, I remember I had a student actually at an ASBPA conference talk to ah one of the professionals there that worked for a company in Hawaii and work out a summer internship in Hawaii.
Getting Involved with COPRi and ASBPA
00:39:26
Speaker
as I think she was ah she was an undergraduate at the time. So she was, i think, between her junior and senior years. And i was just so impressed that yeah she managed to talk herself into this opportunity to study coastal engineering or to work on coastal engineering projects in Hawaii.
00:39:42
Speaker
Like, how cool is that? But it all comes from, you know, the interactions at conferences and just being, you know, being able to talk to people. And it's like it's important. Yeah. But, you know, building off of that, I will say that, um you know, I think students should recognize that that being a student is a superpower. Right. If you go talk to any professional and say you're a student, then instantly they want to talk to you. You know, they want to know what you're doing.
00:40:06
Speaker
um You know, professionals are very interested in what students are doing. So I would definitely ah use that superpower for as much as you can at these conferences and use that to, you know, start some conversations.
00:40:17
Speaker
I know it can be intimidating as a student, but I think once you say that you're a student, um you know, professionals tend to have a lot more questions than you think. So we've talked a a lot about the ASBPA chapters and COPRI student and new professional chapters, um specifically to each organization that it brings to the table in terms of, you know, helping students. So like, what are like the, I guess, main benefits of the different organizations? Maybe Helena, from your perspective with ASBPA. Yeah.
00:40:45
Speaker
Yeah, um actually, during our monthly meetings, we added lightning talks. And they're super cool. We get to hear from students and new professionals.
00:40:56
Speaker
um i think most recently we heard from a new professional about a project that they were doing at work. And it was super interesting for me to see the different projects that these companies do and how they're how what I'm learning in school is being applied outside. And I think it's super nice to see those five minutes and get to know a real world application.
00:41:21
Speaker
um As well as with S&P, we have like a mentorship mentorship program, which you get matched up with a mentor um based on kind of some couple questions. And I've heard such great things about the partnership with your mentor and meeting up with them at the conferences or whatnot, or even just dayto- day to day.
00:41:46
Speaker
And I think that's what makes SMP from the ASPPA side so special. So I'm just curious, the lightning talks, you mentioned that as something valuable.
00:41:56
Speaker
um Is it, do students actually enjoy them or are they like, ah darn it, I have to give a lightning talk? Oh, I mean, I would, i would enjoy doing one, but I think maybe that's just me. But so far we've only had, what, I think three students.
00:42:12
Speaker
um And it's been a big hit so far. So I'm definitely um I'm asking because it's one of the things that we've tossed around in our in my research group is the idea of doing lightning talks at each one of our research team meetings and kind of rotating through the students, but also potentially bringing in outside folks. So that's I can blame you if it doesn't go well. i'm just going to say that next time you're at the ASBPA conference, go find Helena and it's all her fault because or Tiffany, I can blame Tiffany, too. Oh, no. think it's beneficial, especially for the conferences. When you're standing up with your poster, you have a five-minute spiel already.
00:42:50
Speaker
um or even just talking to a professional about what you have. You already have that lightning talk ready. Yeah, man. I know it's one of the things that, you know, Stevens being an engineering school, one of the things that we emphasize is, you know, the elevator pitch, right? So it's like your your lightning talk is your research equivalent of your elevator pitch. If you're trying to like, you know, sell your product or your, your company to somebody. So very similar. so Very interesting. Very cool. How about, Erin, anything specific that COPRI's chapters, student and professional chapters bring to the table?
00:43:27
Speaker
Yeah. So, you know, not being a student chapter member currently, i can only just say what I observe. But I really do think there's, um you know, that that great networking opportunity, right?
00:43:37
Speaker
The students are interacting with professionals. The students are interacting with their fellow students on campus that maybe they wouldn't have interacted with directly. um you know And they're also interacting with each other, right the different student chapters.
00:43:49
Speaker
So, um you know, I think as everyone knows in this field, you know, networks are incredibly important. um You know, you kind of learn what's going on in the field. You, um you know, build relationships and and build research and build projects. And, you know, and and coordinating with folks is is so important. So I would say that networking um is huge. And then also, you know, leadership skill development, you know, and and really just helping ah students understand, you know, how the professional world works, ways to get involved there,
00:44:18
Speaker
um You know, and and like I said, you know, with my example, um you know, they came to us to start this COPR student chapter. And then, yeah you know, COPR has had a great opportunity for for me to get involved at different levels over the past 15 years. And it's been um hugely helpful for for my career.
00:44:34
Speaker
So we really would like to, um you know, give that opportunity to as many students as possible, ah you know, as they go through their careers as well. Yeah, I think, I think COPRI has what potentially could be a built-in advantage in that there's, we're just talking about the structure of the organization, the fact that COPRI is under ASCE, pretty much every school that has a civil engineering program has an ASCE chapter.
00:45:00
Speaker
And those chapters tend to be undergraduate chapters. And COPRI as graduate chapters, you know, there's sort of a natural, um conduit or there's a natural
Final Advice & Conclusion
00:45:12
Speaker
linkage there that can be made where, you know, certainly i always say that Coastals, Co-Pre, professionals, we do the really cool civil engineering. ASCE might kick me out now, but I always say that we do the coolest. I don't know. Hey, we're we're we're part of ASCE. Right. So I think it's an opportunity to, you know, open people's eyes, I think, to you
00:45:32
Speaker
ah you sort of the hidden, um ah really cool behind the scenes, you know, projects that sometimes don't get the same publicity as building a building.
00:45:44
Speaker
You could say bridges, but bridges often include copre folks, right? So, you know, I had this one slide in my one class about the the the the wonders of the seven wonders of the ancient world and the seven wonders of like the modern world that I think it's a list that ASCE might put out.
00:46:00
Speaker
And I always bring it up in my classes because even the old ones and the new ones, the majority of them are coastal projects. So people don't realize it, but all of these ancient wonders and modern day wonders, they're all they all have to do with water.
00:46:14
Speaker
And like, Kopri is right there. So in ASBPA as well. No, I mean, you're absolutely bringing up a great point. You know, I mean, this this podcast, where we're talking about coastal specifically, you know, but like we mentioned before, Kopri is actually coast, ocean, ports, and rivers.
00:46:29
Speaker
So the interaction between all those disciplines is you know hugely important. um And then you know the broader aspect, like you're saying, the COPRI folks interacting with the broader ASC community is is great.
00:46:39
Speaker
So absolutely. Very, very cool. So we don't want to leave without asking, how do people get involved? So think, Erin, we were just talking with you. So why don't why don't you like, you know how do you get involved with COPRI if you want to get involved as a student and new professional?
00:46:56
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. so there are a few different ways. So if you are at a university that has a COPRI student chapter, then definitely join that chapter. COPRI student membership um is actually free um for anyone. So even if you're at a university that does not have a COPRI chapter, you can still be a COPRI member.
00:47:15
Speaker
So um definitely go to the ASCE COPRI website to to look at that. um But also, you know, starting a COPRI student chapter is not as difficult as you might think.
00:47:26
Speaker
um You know, if you have ah some folks at your school, um so institute chapters of ASCE are all at the graduate student level. ASCE has undergraduate chapters, institutes have graduate student chapters.
00:47:38
Speaker
So if you do have, um you know, a cohort of graduate students that are in that Coast Ocean, Ports, Rivers realm of of work, um you know, please reach out to us and, you know, we can get you in touch with the folks of explaining how that student chapter does get developed, um you know, and we can get you some resources to to get that ah that going if if that's something of interest.
00:47:59
Speaker
um You know, and at the young professional level, once you're out of school, you know, please, um you know, look for professional chapters if they're available in your area, um you know, and and regardless, you know, make sure you're following what's going on at the national level.
00:48:13
Speaker
Like we mentioned, we have conferences, we have a variety of things, even if you don't have a local chapter to join. And Helena, how about from ASBPA's perspective? Yeah, we try to keep our university chapter registration kind of simple. we just ask for you to be a member ASBPA and to have at least four students and an advisor.
00:48:37
Speaker
And that is pretty much it. We ask for two events for the year and you're good to go You're a university member ah university chapter. But for our S&P meetings that we have monthly, you do not need to be a part of a university chapter. You can just join online if you reach out to our email or even to me.
00:48:59
Speaker
And I can get you LinkedIn. But yeah, we don't require you to be a part of a university chapter. you just can simply join our monthly meetings and find out what we're about before you even even start to try and get a chapter together.
00:49:14
Speaker
Very cool. Um, so like the last thing that we always ask our guests is advice for students and new professionals, and it could be advice related to COPRI, related to ASBPA. It could be just general life advice. Um, we've had it kind of go all over the place. So, um, maybe Helena, a what advice would you give students and new professionals looking to get involved in the coastal field?
00:49:42
Speaker
um I'm a first generation student, so honestly just getting out there and meeting people like I did at the conference, meeting this group of people and just getting involved and connected and honestly just keep talking to people.
00:50:00
Speaker
um Gets your name out there and you can just figure out what you want to do where you want to go from there. Honestly, my ah advice is just to try everything.
00:50:12
Speaker
Honestly, try everything and find what you like. um My mom always told me to find something I love doing and it'll never feel like you're working a day in your life. So that that's how I found the coastal realm and I want to work on the beach every day my life.
00:50:28
Speaker
So do I. I'm in my office, though, for some reason. I don't understand. Tomorrow, tomorrow i'll be well, I'll be in the marsh tomorrow and Wednesday. It's also supposed to be 90 degrees. Lucky me. I pick i pick the the warmest days of the year.
00:50:43
Speaker
But ah yeah yeah, it always works out that way for some reason. um How about you, Aaron? As somebody who's got a little bit more experience, but still, you know you've you've made a ah great career path and you've obviously...
00:50:58
Speaker
initiated the student chapter or these gra yeah student chapters of COPRI at your various stops. So like what's what advice could you give young students? Yeah, I mean, I would say you know as a student, just just reach out. Like I mentioned earlier, you know being a student in some ways is a superpower. um you know If there's something you're interested in, just just contact them. you know Think outside the box. um Don't you know feel like you're defined by like this is how we get through college or whatever.
00:51:25
Speaker
um You know, for example, when I was an undergrad, a professor was doing something interesting. I just asked if I could volunteer a few hours of a week to help a grad student on something related to it, you know, and, and that, that first step then starts to build the connections and, and builds an understanding of your industry, um you know, and definitely, you know, even if it's like, hey, you know, I don't have time for a full summer internship, can I go spend a couple of days with a professional in the field that I want to go into,
00:51:54
Speaker
you know Sometimes things like that can work out. um Really just starting your network and the in the you know with the connections you do have. Talk to your professors. See if they know folks. um And then as you start your network, it's kind of like a ah you know ah snowball effect. it'll um you know It'll keep building and building.
00:52:10
Speaker
um And then you'll you'll find incredible new opportunities that you didn't even know existed yet. So really just you know and not being afraid to just reach out, even if it's just simple requests.
00:52:21
Speaker
um Small things can build into big things. i think I think that's great advice. And I think it's something that we've heard a number of our guests kind of come back to that. And I think specifically for a field like coastal, where it's a little bit of a niche field where um it's like, if you don't know about it, you don't know about it, but it's really cool. Everybody I know who does it loves it.
00:52:42
Speaker
Right. So because it's such a a more, ah such a smaller field, I feel like it's really important to, to, to reach out and to, um you know, contact the professors and the professionals working in the field and kind of,
00:52:55
Speaker
um Some of it, you know, as much as as much as podcasts like this are trying to get the word out about how cool coastal is, um we still have a long way to go. So I think ah that that that communication, the talking, reaching out, the community aspect of it, I think that's all really important. Great advice.
00:53:16
Speaker
Before we sign off, ah first of all, we'd like to thank New Jersey Sea Grant for sponsoring the podcast and leave a couple of reminders. Again, the ASBPA National Coastal Conference is scheduled for Long Beach, California ah between the 7th and 10th of October.
00:53:36
Speaker
There is a poster abstract deadline, which is open until the 15th. So if your students out there and you want to submit or young professionals, um that poster deadline is the 15th. Don't forget to submit.
00:53:50
Speaker
Um, I C C as we mentioned is also coming to the U S this year in Galveston, Texas. I believe it's in may, if I'm not mistaken, abstract submission is open until October 1st as well. So get those abstracts in hope to see everybody in California. And then again in Texas, the last thing we'll share is if you found this episode insightful, uh, or any of our episodes insightful,
00:54:15
Speaker
ah You want share it with your colleagues and make sure we keep these conversations going. We would appreciate if you could rate us. We can get rated. I didn't even know that. I'm in trouble now. Oh boy.
00:54:27
Speaker
And lastly, if anybody's interested in supporting Going Coastal, we are looking to drum up some sponsorships. So it's not just New Jersey Sea Grant sponsoring us. You can contact us at our Going Coastal email, which is just podcastgoingcoastal at gmail.com.
00:54:43
Speaker
And hopefully we'll continue to do episodes like this, talking about professional development activities and student research spotlights and coastal management and policy issues for a long time into the future.
00:54:55
Speaker
Thanks again for listening. Bye. I can't believe you haven't rated your own show. didn't know I could. ae